News from Hope College is published during April, August and December for alumni, friends and parents of Hope College by the Division of Public Affairs and Marketing.
L. James Harvey ’52 has updated and republished one of his earlier books titled, Does God Laugh? The book was released in September. This is his 12th book in the field of Christian living
Betty Whitaker ’62 Jackson recently selfpublished her 27th book available on her website since her retirement from her 40-year secondary school teaching career. She and her sisters, Ellen Whitaker ’65 Conrad and Dorothy Whitaker, have recently been inducted into the DAR, tracing their Scudder family roots back to the Revolutionary War period. She won First … Continue reading "Betty Whitaker ’62 Jackson"
Joseph Mayne ’64 retired last summer from the department of mathematics and statistics at Loyola University Chicago. He was a Loyola faculty member for 48 years and served two terms as chair of the department. He conducted the Loyola Chamber Orchestra for 27 years and presented 92 orchestra concerts at Loyola. In retirement he and … Continue reading "Joseph Mayne ’64"
Darrel Staat ’64 edited a book titled Virtual Reality in Higher Education: Instruction for the Digital Age, which was co-published by Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group and the American Association of Community Colleges. The chapters were researched and written by graduate students in the Higher Education Executive Leadership Program. This is his sixth published book.
Joan DeJager ’66 Flikkema was featured in the summer 2021 issue of Forum, the Calvin Theological Seminary magazine, in the article “Looking Back & Looking Ahead, Commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Women’s Ordination in the CRC.” She was a founding member of the Committee for Women in the Christian Reformed Church and helped establish … Continue reading "Joan DeJager ’66 Flikkema"
Alan Jones ’69 had a new book, Living up to Your School Mission Statement: Reforming Schools from the Inside Out, released in November. The book is the last in a series on school reform and instructional leadership (Becoming a Strong Instructional Leader, Teachers College Press; Teaching Matters Most, Corwin Press; and The First 100 Days … Continue reading "Alan Jones ’69"
Nancy Forest-Flier ’71 continues to work as a freelance Dutch-English literary translator. Her most recent projects include A Philosophy of Madness: The Experience of Psychotic Thinking, by Wouter Kusters, published in 2020. The Dutch original, Filosofie van de waanzin, won the Socrates prize for best book on philosophy in the Netherlands in 2015. Also The … Continue reading "Nancy Forest-Flier ’71"
Nancy Milne ’74 Gus has retired after more than 35 years as business manager with the natural resource ecology lab and department of ecosystem science and sustainability at Colorado State University.
Scott Lenheiser ’74 reports that he is still practicing law in the Greater Detroit/Oakland and Wayne counties primarily in businessbusiness planning and estate planning areas. His Ford Taurus station wagon has reached 136,000 miles and is going strong. He attended the North American Society of Pipe Collectors show in Columbus, Ohio, in August and caught … Continue reading "Scott Lenheiser ’74"
Conley Zomermaand ’77 began his 13th interim ministry assignment in August, serving as interim pastor/head of staff at the First Presbyterian Church in Aiken, South Carolina. He reports that he was pleased to find that other Hope College and Holland personalities made it to Aiken before he did. It’s been a banner year for his … Continue reading "Conley Zomermaand ’77"
Greg Shand ’80 reports that it’s been three years since he and his wife, Kim, retired from their company, Vega Consulting Solutions Inc., following their sale of Vega to the employees. They now reside in Naples, Florida. Greg spends some of his spare time traveling to racetracks across the country, teaching high performance driving, as … Continue reading "Greg Shand ’80"
Darlene Hiemstra ’86 Shotmeyer has been elected the New Jersey Bergen County Republican State Committeewoman serving for her third term. She was recently elected as the vice-chair of the New Jersey Republican State Party for the the entire state of New Jersey
Kirsten Allen ’90 Bartels and her husband Bart have returned to Holland, Michigan, and are now living in the historical district mere blocks from campus. She is the chief academic officer for Akad/Asia.
Jason Elmore ’93 is the 28th circuit court judge for Wexford and Missaukee counties. He also published his first book, The Field. He and his wife, Alicia Mendenhall ’94 Elmore, celebrated their 28th anniversary on May 22.
Kuria Van Wieren ’98 is living in Bonita Springs, Florida, and is working as a travel nurse healthcare recruiter. She is a registered nurse and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.
Rebecca de Velder ’99 Fein created a television show for Amazon Fire, Roku and Apple TV called Everyday Science. The show communicates science to the curious and encourages everyone to embrace the scientist within. The show covers topics related to the pandemic, but also science topics in general.
Melissa Roop ’02 Cordes is a counselor at New Futures High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. New Futures is a school for pregnant and parenting students.
Jennifer Folkert ’02 Yoder received a master’s degree in nursing education in August 2021 and started a new position as the professional development educator for the school nursing department of Holland Hospital.
Lisa Cortez ’03 Hendricks is pursuing a Ph.D. in language and literacy through the curriculum instruction teacher education program at Michigan State University
Katie Budris ’04 was promoted to the rank of senior lecturer in writing arts at Rowan University in South Jersey. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate level creative writing courses and serves as editor in chief of the MA literary magazine, Glassworks.
Rebekah Stewart ’05 and Patrick Lennon announce the birth of Lewis Teddy on June 13, 2021. Rebekah lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is a nurse practitioner and epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Eight friends from Hope College, many of whom lived together in Denver, Colorado, reunited to run the 2021 Ragnar Trail Relay near Grayling, Michigan. Alex Behm ’08, David Boersma ’06, Paul Carollo ’08, Tommy Gordon ’08, Joel Evenhouse ’08, Andrew Hickock ’08, Matt McCabe ’08 and Christian Piers ’07 finished the course with a time … Continue reading "David Boersma ’06"
Shea Tuttle ’06 of Henrico, Virginia, and Kristin Olson ’07 Brace of Ada, Michigan, were the authors featured on the annual Tom Andrews ’84 Memorial Reading of the Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series at Hope on Tuesday, Sept. 28. Shea is the author of Exactly Who You Are: The Life and Faith of Mister Rogers … Continue reading "Shea Tuttle ’06"
Shea Tuttle ’06 of Henrico, Virginia, and Kristin Olson ’07 Brace of Ada, Michigan, were the authors featured on the annual Tom Andrews ’84 Memorial Reading of the Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series at Hope on Tuesday, Sept. 28. Shea is the author of Exactly Who You Are: The Life and Faith of Mister Rogers … Continue reading "Kristin Olson ’07 Brace"
Shuchen Deborah Li ’07 is the internal communications manager, emerging markets at Xylem. She is building strong culture and internal cross-communications for colleagues across 37 countries.
Richard Newman ’07 is the director of music ministries at St. James Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Michigan. He is responsible for all instrumental and choral programing and serves as church organist. He was the director of music and organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia, for the past seven years.
Christian Piers ’07 has become a partner in his orthodontic practice, Small and Piers Orthodontics, with locations in Hickory and Morganton, North Carolina. He lives with his wife, Rachael Sauerman ’07 Piers, and children, Kai and Koa, in Asheville. Eight friends from Hope College, many of whom lived together in Denver, Colorado, reunited to run … Continue reading "Christian Piers ’07"
Eight friends from Hope College, many of whom lived together in Denver, Colorado, reunited to run the 2021 Ragnar Trail Relay near Grayling, Michigan. Alex Behm ’08, David Boersma ’06, Paul Carollo ’08, Tommy Gordon ’08, Joel Evenhouse ’08, Andrew Hickock ’08, Matt McCabe ’08 and Christian Piers ’07 finished the course with a time … Continue reading "Alex Behm ’08"
Eight friends from Hope College, many of whom lived together in Denver, Colorado, reunited to run the 2021 Ragnar Trail Relay near Grayling, Michigan. Alex Behm ’08, David Boersma ’06, Paul Carollo ’08, Tommy Gordon ’08, Joel Evenhouse ’08, Andrew Hickock ’08, Matt McCabe ’08 and Christian Piers ’07 finished the course with a time … Continue reading "Paul Carollo ’08"
Eight friends from Hope College, many of whom lived together in Denver, Colorado, reunited to run the 2021 Ragnar Trail Relay near Grayling, Michigan. Alex Behm ’08, David Boersma ’06, Paul Carollo ’08, Tommy Gordon ’08, Joel Evenhouse ’08, Andrew Hickock ’08, Matt McCabe ’08 and Christian Piers ’07 finished the course with a time … Continue reading "Tommy Gordon ’08"
Eight friends from Hope College, many of whom lived together in Denver, Colorado, reunited to run the 2021 Ragnar Trail Relay near Grayling, Michigan. Alex Behm ’08, David Boersma ’06, Paul Carollo ’08, Tommy Gordon ’08, Joel Evenhouse ’08, Andrew Hickock ’08, Matt McCabe ’08 and Christian Piers ’07 finished the course with a time … Continue reading "Joel Evenhouse ’08"
Eight friends from Hope College, many of whom lived together in Denver, Colorado, reunited to run the 2021 Ragnar Trail Relay near Grayling, Michigan. Alex Behm ’08, David Boersma ’06, Paul Carollo ’08, Tommy Gordon ’08, Joel Evenhouse ’08, Andrew Hickock ’08, Matt McCabe ’08 and Christian Piers ’07 finished the course with a time … Continue reading "Andrew Hickock ’08"
Eight friends from Hope College, many of whom lived together in Denver, Colorado, reunited to run the 2021 Ragnar Trail Relay near Grayling, Michigan. Alex Behm ’08, David Boersma ’06, Paul Carollo ’08, Tommy Gordon ’08, Joel Evenhouse ’08, Andrew Hickock ’08, Matt McCabe ’08 and Christian Piers ’07 finished the course with a time … Continue reading "Matt McCabe ’08"
Ryan Johnson ’09 was promoted to associate professor of mathematics as well as the director of general education at Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana. He reports that he more fully appreciates the essay he had to write about the Christian liberal arts when he was a freshman at Hope.
Emily Sicard ’10 Nickerson has been promoted to senior copywriter at Whirlpool Corporation. Her work on the KitchenAid brand “Dishwashers Made for Makers” launch was recently recognized by the Association of National Advertisers with a Gold Reggie Award in the New Product or Service Launch category and In-House Excellence Awards in the Integrated Campaign and … Continue reading "Emily Sicard ’10 Nickerson"
Tim Dyer ’11 was selected for Moody on the Market’s 40 Under 40 for 2021 list. He has worked for United Federal Credit Union since May 2021 as the commercial lending group manager.
Caleb Nykamp ’12 received a Master of Divinity degree from Western Theological Seminary in May 2021 and was ordained in August as the youth and families pastor at Hopkins Community Reformed Church in Hopkins, Michigan.
Emily Hayes ’14 is the new head coach for women’s volleyball at Bates College. She will be the 13th coach in the history of varsity women’s volleyball at Bates.
Annalise Klein ’14 is the ARCTIC Fellow at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. She is developing an education-research framework for energy innovation hubs in rural Alaskan communities.
Marvin Solberg ’15 received his Ph.D. in nursing from Wayne State University and is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Erin Schregardus ’16 received a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and is working in Minneapolis for WSB Engineering.
Joseph Bustamante ’18 and Lindsay Kooy ’19 were married on Friday, Aug. 6, in Holland, Michigan. They currently live in Durham, North Carolina, where Joe is pursuing an M.Div. degree at Duke Divinity School.
Mark Powers ’19 spoke at Hope on Thursday, Sept. 30, through the Computer Science Seminar series, presenting “Cloud Computing with Chameleon.” He completed a master’s degree in computer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison earlier this year and is a software developer working on the Chameleon Cloud project through the University of Chicago and Argonne … Continue reading "Mark Powers ’19"
Jacob Mazur-Batistoni ’20 professed simple vows in the Dominican Order, Province of St. Albert the Great and began his second year of formation for becoming a Dominican Catholic Priest.
